Hat protector



Max "ch 21, 1933. T RODERlCK 1,901,987

HAT PROTECTOR Filed July 21, 1931 LR. Y 2 Wm Q s a w mw 7 w fl wT I Im mw 5m Patented Mar. 21, 1933 PATENT cares THOMAS E. RODERICK, OF BRONX, NEW YORK new rno'rnoron. 7

Application filed July 21, 1931, Serial No. 552,111, and in Canada July 26, 1930.

This invention relates to new and. useful improvements in a waterproof hat protector which shields against inclemencies of the weather. 7 4

The invention has for an object theprovision of a device of the class mentioned which is of simple durable construction, dependable in use and efficient in action, :and which canbe manufacturedand sold at a reasonable cost. p

The invention proposes a hat protector which includes a sheet cover tautly and smoothly conformableon the outer side of the crown and the top and bottom of the brim of a hat, and means immovably andpermanently" mounted on the inner marginal edge of the sheet cover on the bottom of said brim for producing tension to prevent sagging of the cover away from the brim.

A hat protector constructed in this manner may be easily appliedupon a hat,-and when applied conforms snugly with its shape without any sagging or any overlapping of parts. A neat structure is thus obtained which takes up a minimum quantity of room in that there is absolutely no excess, and therefore may be easily stored in ones pocket without causing bulging. The protector is intended for straw hats of various types, panamas, and also soft or felt hats and derbies.

Numerous attempts have been made to produce a commercially successful hat protector but failure has resulted in thatthe articles were very' bulky and were not of very neat appearancewhen applied upon hats. Further, the protectors attempted were very unsatisfactory in that they were difi'icult to apply, and when applied fitted very poorly.

Poor fitting caused overlapping and folding of parts, adding to the bulk of the protector and making it heavy and very undesirable to be carried around.

A major fault of the various protectors previously attempted is that the portion of the covering on the top of the brimof the hat was made large and then folded around and extended across the bottom of the brim. This caused folds'on the bottom which sometimes were eliminated by cuts or radial slits,

mounted on the inner marginal edge of the but the use of cuts necessitated some means I r for holding the parts against the bottom of the brim and such means is bulky, cumbersome and hard to apply.

For further comprehension ofthe invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, references will be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, and to the appended claim in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth. V

In the accompanying drawing forming a material part of this disclosure Fig. 1 is'a-vertical sectional view taken of a hat and a protector engaged thereon constructed according to this invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged detailed view of one corner of theprotector shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentaryenlarged detailed view of the bottom of Fig.1.

Fig. 4. is a sectional view. of the wall portion of the crown of the protector shown in Fig. 1, but shown per se.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view similar to a portion of Fig. 1, but illustrating a modified form.

Fig. 6 is a bottom view of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevational view looking in the direction of'the line 77 of Fig. 5, and

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but illustrating a modified form of protector. I

The waterproof hat protector according to this invention comprises a sheet cover 10 tautly and smoothly conformable on the outer side of the crown 11 and on the top 12 and the bottom 13- of the brim of a hat 14:, and means 15 immovably and permanently sheet cover on the bottom 13 of said brim for producing tension to prevent sagging of the cover away from the brim.

The sheet cover 10 should preferably be made from very thin rubber produced by dipping, or any other known process. This is not intended as a limitation, since it may be formed from pieces of sheet'rubber amalgamated together according to known processes. As shown on the drawing it is formed from four pieces, namely a top of crown portion 16 which is fiat and conforms with the top of the crown of the hat, a cylindrical portion 17 conforming with the walls of the crown and at adjacent edges 18 amalgamated together with the lower portion of the cylindrical portion 17, and a portion 20 for the bottom of the brim of the hat amalgamated together at 21 to the portion 19.

The cylindrical portion 17 should preferably be of frusto conical shape as shown 'in Fig. 4;. IVhen applied upon the crown of a hat it is slightly stretched, and since the lower portion is of smaller diameter than the upper portion it snugly engages in the junction between the brim and crown'of a hat so as to perfectly conform with the, shape of the hat.. This produces a very neat appearance. The frusto conical cylindrical portion 17 is formed by cutting a sheet of rubber and amalgamating the edges together at 22. The portion 20 on the bottom of the brim of the hat may terminate any point along the brim, but should be ofsuflicient size to protect the bottom of the brim so that when a user handles the hat with wet hands damage will not be done.

Since the portion 20 011 the bottom of the brim is separate fromthe portion at the top of the brim but amalgamated together at the outer peripheries, along the points 21, it will flatly and smoothly fit upon the bottom side without any wrinkles or overlapping .due to an overabundance of material. It will be recognized that if the top portion 19 was much larger than shown on the drawing so that it may be bent around to cover the lower side of the brim, an abundance or excess of material will be present which would cause wrinkling or necessitate slits to eliminate such wrinkling.

The means immovably and permanently mounted on the inner marginal edge of the portion 20 on the bottom of the brim for producing tension to preventsagging of this portion away from the brim comprises a small outturned edge 23 from the inner marginal edge of the portion 20 which necessarily must be stretched when thus outturned and in the stretched condition amalgamated with the adjacent portion so asto permanently maintain its bent condition. Necessarily since it was stretched when placed into form, when released it contracted and produces the necessary tension referred to.

In Figs. 5 to 7 a modified means has been shown for producing the tension, but this means is also immovably and permanently mounted on the inner marginal edge. It is shown to consist of corrugations 24 formed on the inner marginal edge and produced in any of the conventional ways known to corrugate, such as for example by the use of heated dies. The corrugating caused the elongation of the edge and such elongating brim need only be waterproof but not very elastic. This construction allows a wide variety of choice of materials for the manufacture of the protector without changing the principle underlying its success.

In the modified form of the device illustrated in Fig. 8, the protector has been shown made in sections which are not connected so as to'be applicable individually on the hat. Two separate sections are shown on the drawing. One section indicated by reference numeral 25 covers the top of the crown, the walls of the crown, and a portion of the top of the brim of the hat. The second section indicated by reference numeral 26 extends over the portion of the cover 25, which covers the top of the brim of the hat and also has a portion extending under the bottom side of the brim. The portion 25 is shown made from three parts, namely portion 16 for covering the top of the crown which is permanently amalgamated at 18 to a cylindrical portion 17 which coversthe side walls of the crown. The cylindrical portion is amalgamated at its lower edge 27 to a flat ring shaped portion 19 which rests upon the top side of the hat brim. The section 26 is made from two portions amalgamated together at 21. The top portion of the section 26 has its inner marginal edge provided with tensioning means 15. Any tensioning means may be used, as for example an inturned tensioned edge or a corrugated edge, or the like. The inner marginal edge of the lower portion of the section 26 is also provided with tensioning means 15.

The hat protector may be applied upon a hat by first applying the top section 25 and next applying the bottom sectionv 26. After it is applied on the hat it has all the advantages of the preferred form previously described. It distinguishes from the preferred form in the advantage that when not applied on the hat, one portion may be stored in one pocket and another portion in another pockfist so as not to bulge out one pocket too muc While I have illustrated and described my without departing from the spirit or the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of United States is p In a waterproof hat protector, an elastic sheet cover tautly and smoothly conformable on the bottom side of the brim of a hat, and corrugations on the inner marginal edge of the sheet cover on the bottom of said brim for simultaneously producing tension to prevent sagging of the cover away from the brim and having edge portions out of contact with the brim for convenience in gripping. In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

THOMAS E. RODERICK. 

